Month: June 2012

Asparagus with aioli and parma ham crisp

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I adore asparagus, and would never grow tired of eating it. But I do find it more interesting served as a starter than as an accopaniment to meat or fish.

The latest starter is this simple dish with cooked but crunchy asparagus, homemade aioli and parma ham crisps. Quick, easy and delicious.

Asparagus with aioli and parma ham crisp, serves 2

6-8 asparagus spears, tough ends removed

2 slices parma ham

blackpepper

Aioli:

1 egg yolk, at room temperature

150 ml neutral oil, I used sunflowe

1/2 lemon, the juice

salt, pepper

1 garlic clove, pressed

Preheat the oven to 225C. Place the parma ham slices on a wire rack or on a baking tray. Let it crisp up in the oven for 3-5 minutes. Leave to cool.

Beat the egg yolk in a bowl and add the oil drip by drip and eventually a thin stream. Season to taste with lemon juice. Add the garlic and season with salt and pepper.

Bring water to boil in a large pan. Add the asparagus and bring to the boil again. Cook for a minute then drain.

Smear a dollop of aioli on each plate. Place the asparagus next to it. Cut the parma ham crisps in half and arrange on top of the asparagus. Add some freshly ground black pepper and serve.

A reminder: homemade calamari

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When food shopping in Waitrose on Sunday I could not resist some squid from the fish counter and made a big batch of calamari for my visiting friend Therése and myself. Served with a nice salad and homemade mayo/aioli, and perhaps some bread this is a wonderful summer meal. Quick and easy to make too!

Calamari, serves 2

4-5 squid tubes

3 tbsp semolina (flour works if nothing else at hand)

2 tsp paprika

a pinch of salt

neutral oil  (vegetable oil/ground nut oil)

To serve:

lime and/or lemon wedges

mayo of some sort

Cut the squid into rings. Pour semolina, paprika powder and salt in a large ziplock bag and shake it. Add the squid rings and shake so the rings get coated by the mixture. Heat up 2 cm high of oil in a large pan. Check that it is hot enough by throwing in a small piece of bread. If it browns it is hot. Remove the bread and add a handful calamari. Beware of the oil splashing about. Fry until the calamaris are golden on both sides. Remove with a slotted spoon or tong, drain on some kitchen towel. Fry the remaining squid in a few batches. Serve immediately!

 

Taste of London part II

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There were 40 restaurants represented at Taste of London, offering 3-4 dishes each, and I did my best to try as many dishes as possible.

The first dish was from Jason Atherton’s Pollen Street Social; avocado purée with crab and sweet corn mousse. Very nice, but the texture made it feel very heavy, so the small taster size portion was the perfect amount. I like that the dish seems simple, but still different. I mean, I would never dream of inventing sweet corn mousse.

Next up was La Gavroche‘s smoked salmon stuffed with ricotta and chives and served with a truffle sauce. Great produce, an easy dish to make but that truffle sauce just made it delicious.

The man behind La Gavroche; Michel Roux Jr, posed happily for photos. Here with a random girl.

One restaurant I was curious to try was Bar Boulud, from the team behind Daniel in NYC.

Their ‘hotdog’ with brioche bun, lamb merguez, sour cream, harissa and coriander was amazing and I can’t wait to sample more from their menu. This hotdog was also one of the most popular dishes at the festival.

Above is the spread that was available from Gordon Ramsay’s Savoy Grill.

I couldn’t resist the sirloin with mashed potatoes and café de Paris sauce. Pretty old school but delicious of course, although the steak was not the best I’ve ever had…

At Gordon Ramsay’s Maze I couldn’t resist this fun looking pudding;
pineapple and black pepper Bacardi slushy with raspberry jelly and vanilla yogurt. It was very refreshing and nice, although it didn’t seem that popular among others.

This pudding from Corner Room is amazing, and I have had it in the restaurant before. It is not supersweet and consists of many interesting elements; goat’s caramel, goat’s curd, crunchy biscuit, blueberries and shiso granita.

The last pudding was from Cinnamon Soho, Cinnamon Club’s newest edition. This mango and cardamom crème brulée was delicious with the little fruit salad on top although I did miss the caramelised sugar on top.

The festival offered lots of slowcooked meat and although I love it, I cook it al lot myself but it also feels more autumnal than summery, and I think that impacted the way I chose my sample dishes.

Taste of London part I

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I spent Saturday afternoon in Regent’s Park at the Taste of London festival. As most vendors were the same as on the Foodies Festival, I mainly looked at the different restaurants. Each restaurant (40 in total) offered 3-4 dishes where as one was usually a signature dish with more expensive ingredients.

I tried lots of dishes which I will tell you all about tomorrow, but there are still more I would like to mention.

Jamie Oliver and Adam Perry Lang’s Barbecoa, their meat restaurant in the City was very popular and their burger looked really good.

Opera Tavern were there with their mini burgers but I eat there often enough anyway, so no need to try it out here.

The cheap thai chain Busaba Eathai were there too, and I have eaten here enough times to know it is good.

The Savoy had both Gordon Ramsay’s Savoy Grill and the River Restauant represented.

Swedish cider from Rekorderlig Cider was there too, but I can’t understand why this sweet cider has become so popular in the UK at the moment as I prefer dry cider myself.

Of the more exotic vendors Trinidad and Tobago had dancers with sequins and feathers and there were a whole Thailand village.

Club Gascon won the best dish this year and it is pictured above. It was a cheesy and marmite-y spread served in a Marmite jar with thick slices of sourdough bread.

Heston Blumenthal had his Bray pub, Hinds Head here and although the food looked good it seemed very simple compared to most resturants and that is probably why I didn’t try it.

L’anima’s signature dish was fettucine with truffle which I would happily have tried if I wasn’t so full at this stage. The trends this year was definitely truffle, pork and slowcooked meat. No surprises there.

Every slot has different chefs speaking and during my Saturday afternoon slot it was among others Jason Atherton, trained by Gordon Ramsay and known for his London restaurant Pollen St Social. It was good fun listening to him. He prefers natural flavours and does not compromise on produce. He even told us how much everything cost. Also two lucky people from the audience got to cook with him!

 

Midsummer and the summer solstice

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Picture borrowed here.

Today is the longest day of the year, the summer solstice, and although some believe this can make you a bit crazy (see cult classic The Wicker Man) we celebrate this pagan tradition, Midsummer, differently.

Traditional foods are pickled herring, boiled eggs, new potatoes, meatballs and strawberries in some form, for dessert. Nowadays people like to barbecue too, as the Swedes go crazy with their barbecues every summer.

It is usually bad weather and often rain, which we try to laugh about, but you have to at least try to sit outside. And to keep warm we drink snaps and sing snaps songs of course.

During the afternoon it is customary to dance around a may pole (a phallus symbol) and especially the children like this. An old tradition young girls try at least once is to, late in the evening, walk around and pick seven different types of flowers while silent, then put them underneath your pillow and you will dream about your future husband.

Happy midsummer and skål!

Opera Tavern still delivers

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Although I like nothing better than trying new restaurants I also like to go back to places I know I can trust.

So when Liz, Felicity, Jess, Laura and I were to meet up one rainy Monday evening, I wanted us to go to a place that is comfortable to sit and chat but still be vowed with good food. I have dined at Opera Tavern quite a few times now with out ever being disappointed about the anything, and that definitely makes it worth coming back.

We started with a nice cava and some buttery light green olives while waiting for everyone to arrive. Because of the rainy weather we quite neglected the charkuteries and cheeses and only had warm tapas.

I started with crispy soft shell crab with a fresh salad of radish and celery as well as herb mayonnaise. It was good. Real good.

Three of the girls chose the same bass ceviche with basil sorbet that looked and tasted amazing. Very fresh!

Liz tried the asparagus with wild mushrooms and slowcooked egg yolk. It looked fabulous and judging by the speed it was eaten it tasted just as nice as it looked.

Jess and Laura ordered scallops with prosciutto, pea purée and wild garlic butter which they throughlly enjoyed. Laura, Felicity and I all chose the in season goat’s cheese stuffed courgette flowers with honey. So good.

Jess tried the roasted carrot salad with date puréw, cumin and pine nuts and it looked really good (but not on my shaky picture), just like the lovely mozzarella, tomato and grilled peach salad. Yum!

Opera Tavern’s most famous little dish must be their mini pork and foie gras burger that I have yet to resist. The flavours, the different textures, and the size makes it pretty perfect.

For the first time here we also had space for pudding. I suspect we talked a lot and therefore ate slowly. Anyway, I’m very happy indeed that we tied the puddings because they were just as wonderful as the savoury dishes.

Liz and Laura chose pistachio tarte with goat’s curd icecream and fig purée. Very nice but quite a big slice.

Felicity chose the rice pudding with cherries, almond icecream and thyme, which I had my eye on too. She loved it!

But I am a predictable creature and by the sight of salted caramel I chose a cold chocolate fondant with salty cookie crumbs, milk icecream and that salted caramel. Lovely but rich, but that’s what you expect. 🙂

I still can’t fault this place. It is relaxed didning in a nice interior, central location and really good food.

I do suggest you make a visit if you haven’t already.

Opera Tavern

23 Catherine Street  London WC2B 5JS

A Swedish hen do

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A few weekends ago now it was my best friend Emma’s hen do back in Malmö, Sweden and although it is slightly off-topic (there was food involved) I want to show you what we got up to.

My dear father helped kidnap Emma from her flat and drove her to the park where we had gathered to meet her and to have some breakfast in the sunshine. We had bubbly, nice bread, eggs, smoked salmon, cheese, fresh fruit, juices and other bits and it was a great start to the day. Emma also got to wear a tinsel wig and a special Sweden T-shirt because she used to play football.

Our first activity was to compete in different teams for two hours with different challanged at a place called Utmaningarnas Hus (The House of Challenges) and it was good fun. And not just because my team won.

After the challenges we drove to the beach and had coffee and mother’s cakes as well as fresh Swedish strawberries. Such a nice break!

After that we tried our luck at pole-dancing, but it was really hard. At least I thought so, so I just watched the others instead.

We then got ready at a few different places around town and met up at the bride’s flat, where her husband-to-be had set up a nice long table for us.

We then gathered around said long table for a champagne tasting that my blogging colleague Anders Öhman did. It was great fun and we learned a lot! Also a good start to the evening.

After trying all the lovely bubbly we had food catered from a tapas restaurant called La Roche. I let them decide the menu, and they did a great job. Everyone ate with a healthy appetite and it was a great spread.

We had charkuteries and cheese, olives and large capers, marinated prawns, tender chicken scewers with homemade chutney, strong aioli, tortilla, stuffed small red peppers and wonderful lamb chops. White chocolate pannacotta with raspberries for pudding.

The evening continues with music and chats and it was a great day for us, but hopefully even better for our hen Emma.

 

Vinoteca, Soho

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Vinoteca branches seem to pop up all over town, so when it was time for the Soho branch to open a month ago, I realised I’d better got and try what it is all about. Last week Sinead and I met there for an early supper and wine.

When we got there around 6.30pm the restaurant was almost empty, but after a while there were plenty of people. I’m usually worried when a restaurant in a big city like London is empty; it is usually not a good sign.

Vinoteca has a long wine list and the evening we were there they offered samples of three British wines with matching nibbles for £15. A nice idea, but we wanted a proper meal and decided on a bottle of white to go with it.

The menu here is very seasonal and changes often, which I really like. Since asparagus is in season Sinead tried some with ham and crisoy egg. It was cooked well and was very nice.

I chose goat’s cheese stuffed courgette flowers with a tomato salad which I really liked.

Instead of a maincourse Sinead opted for another starter and chose the scallops with carrot purée that seemed really nice but it was quite small, even for a starter.

I chose grilled fish (but have forgotten which…) which was perfectly cooked and came with a salad of fennel, artichokes and orange segments. I had my doubts about this flavour combination but it worked better than I expected, but it would have been nice with some warm elements in the salad o go with the warm fish.

Since Sinead had two small starters she had room for dessert, and I of course helped too. The lemon and elderflower drizzle cake with rhubarb and cream was nice and fresh.

I quite like Vinoteca Soho, all in all, but I think the food is lacking a bit of oomph. I want to be blown away when I eat out, not feel that I could almost cook it myself. Admittedly, the dishes were easy ones, but they should still be absolutely perfect when eating out. I also think the starters were stronger than the mains, at least mine.

Vinoteca Soho

53-55 Beak Street

London W1F 9SH

Globe artichoke – the perfect nibble?

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Sometimes I really admire the ability the Mediterranean countries have to dress up vegetables in the most simplest way and make it taste delicious.

When Maria & Daniel were here in April we had artichokes the simple French way and it was both good fun to pick it apart and fabulous to eat. I served it with melted butter, wild garlic mayo and baguette. Amazing!

Whole artichoke

Depending on the size, use approx 1/2 artichoke per person as a nibble/small starter.

Trim the leaves with scissors all around the artichoke and rub with lemon over the cuts so they won’t go brown. Place the artichoke in salted boiling water and cook until soft (20-45 minutes depending on size). Start to eat it by picking the leaves from the bottom and up, outside and in. Dip in butter or mayo and scrape off the ‘meaty’ part with your teeth. Once the leaves are picked the heart remains. Trim away all the fluff and cut it up, serve with a knife and fork.

Bistro Union, Clapham

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Last Saturday I had the most wonderful day with my friend Gaby. We met at Bistro Union in Clapham and had a fab lunch, when looked in a few shops on the way to the V&A for the Ballgowns exhibition.

Bistro Union is situated on the very cosy street, Abbeville Road in Clapham, and it is run by the team behind Trinity (often mentioned on this blog) and head chef Adam Byatt. Both Gaby and I had high expectations, but were seriously impressed.

The interior is simple with lots of old details and we found it very charming. The menu looks like an old school notebook and offers fabulous treats for not much money at all. We decided to try quite a few of the snacks to make up our meal but we are definitely coming back for a full three-course meal.

Lovely flavours in the chicken liver paté with toast.

The best sausage puffs we’ve both had, and I’m usually not even that keen on English sausages. Which says a lot.

Asparagus served with hazelnut sauce and savoury creme. An unusual but welcome combination of flavours.

The pickled mackrell with onions, sour cream and chives took me back to Sweden for a moment – delicious.

Ham terrine with homemade piccalill. I liked the terrine but the piccalilli was rather too sharp and overpowered the pork.

Rabbit and pea spread. The slight sweetness of both rabbit and green peas really worked together.

The couple at the table next to us were really enjoying their icecream so I had to try it too. This is honeycomb icecream (divine), served in a jar.

Gaby and I both really enjoyed Bistro Union and we will definitely be back soon. The food was gorgeous and we liked all the little details in presentation. It is probably the most recession-friendly restaurant for its guests too, as the prices are very modest without compromising on the produce. To illustrate this, I can tell you that our bill came to only £39 for the two of us, including everything above, a soft drink, a glass of wine, a coffee and service charge. Seriously good value for money.

Bistro Union

40 Abbeville Road

Clapham

London SW4 9NG

Tel: 0207 042 6400